Contenu du sommaire : Les districts industriels : traditions et innovations

A correlation can be made between the indigenous creation of specialised industrial districts, the localised shift of workers from agriculture to industry and the existence of transitional zones between traditional and modern economies. In western Europe this process has occurred during three phases : at the time of the movement from proto- industry to large-scale industrialisation in the developed industrial countries; during the years of strong postwar economic growth in the transitional regions of recently industrialised countries and, more recently, in the peripheral regions of these latter countries.

The concept of economic entities has a long tradition in German geography, it can easily be applied to industrial districts. Using a dynamic approach, the author studies a number of these districts in northern Bavaria. The specific character of their geographical structures, the role of innovative processes and the existence of a cycle of regional development, ending with the system's dissolution, are shown. Such studies provide the basis for an empirical location theory.

During its long history, the industrial district of Castres- Mazamet, which specialises in textiles, has experienced a series of transformations. These led to a differentiation of activities between Castres and Mazamet. Currently the two centres have succeeded in maintaining their activities and are attempting to create a single economic entity.

The Swiss Jura region provides an interesting illustration of the emergence of a new type of spatial production system linked to the appearance of new technologies. This region has recently experienced a transformation of the traditional productive system, based on micro- mechanics and watchmaking, in favour of a system centred on micro-techniques. Such change involves the combination of traditional technologies (micro-mechanics and electro- mechanics) and new technologies (micro-electronics, new materials, optics). This evolution results from the need to adapt to a changing global technological and economic environment. It depends on the existence of specific infrastructures (research and training centres) as well as the development of networks bringing together the different agents of the productive system so as to dispose of the full range of technical and scientific skills essential for the process of innovation. In this context the study shows the importance of the milieu in the emergence of a technological district.

ABSTRACT : autonomous industrial development. The distinctive economic structures of the area are first highlighted : the predominance of small and medium-sized family firms, a pattern of interwoven agricultural and industrial development, and diversification and increased value added in the secondary sector. Development has been mainly confined to an industrial and urbanised zone characterised here as a 'territory of minimal density'. This area coincides with the boundaries of the Lys valley which has been strongly marked by the time-honoured traditions of the culture, working and trade of flax. The paper reveals the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to the study of local development.

Marshall-type "industrial districts" are almost absent in Quebec. There does exist, however, in Beauce County a type of industrial development centered on local entrepreneurship : namely, sectors of diversified production in which their collective identity, or commonality, is simply derived from territorial proximity over a long period. Our case- study in Beauce County, highlights a double process : on the one hand, a certain deregionalization of markets, evolving from peasantry to industrial with more open markets. On the other hand, regionalization is renewed as a counterpart, through a set of cooperation rules, less diffuse than before, in order to protect and develop local production.

In Portugal the appearance of new industrial districts around Oporto and along the road linking it to Lisbon coincided with the economic downturn of 1974 and the April Revolution. The author's analysis is based on the two southern districts of Agueda (44000 inhabitants), specialising in metal products, and Marinha Grande (32200 inhabitants), orientated towards the production of moulds for the plastics industry. The major characteristics of these two areas are the domination of SMEs, the local origin of capital, the role played by subcontracting, the growth of exports and the increasing interrelationships between urban and rural areas. Despite the weak development of the local economic environment, the strength of inter-industrial linkages ensures that these two districts feature the country's highest rates of industrial growth.

After 1970, in order to become sub-contractors, farmers'sons set up village workshops, notably in the transitional areas represented by the fertile plains around Taichung and Tainan. Folllowing the revaluation of the NTS in 1985, the village workshops were maintained, while the parent factories transferred their assembly lines to southern China. Rural industries continue to export highly labour intensive manufactured products through the intermediary of trading companies. Thus, a relative balance is maintained between metropolitan and provincial